Style Diaries: Dolly, Charuta & Komal

Fashion blogging is more than posting a pretty picture on instagram. We are living in the age where selfie cameras are elevating narcissistic tendencies to a whole new level. To be relevant it is very important to have an opinion & you need a voice. What irritates me the most is how boring the trends are getting on the runways & most importantly on streets (as street fashion is not meant to be boring & predictable atleast). The designers seems to be obsessed with boxy silhouettes & are more inclined towards everything very clean & chic. Where is the originality? Why sudden love for everything anti-fit or handlooms? Why everybody is trying to fit-in instead of standing out? I think they all are working on similar mood boards. Thankfully when Elle India recently posted an article I was finally relieved that someone reputed atleast pointed it out.

Fortunately three Delhi fashionistas are breaking the style norms without following any particular fashion trend & keeping the street fashion alive with their quirky & unpredictable personal style which they have developed in years. Also I had a great chance to interact with these 3 style bloggers who were kind enough to take some time & answer all my fashion curiosities which I always wanted to ask & to know more about their style inspirations.

Photographs & text by Abhimanyu Singh Rathore.

Dolly Singh

Dolly Singh is a style chameleon. She keeps on re-inventing her style, rising from her india modern avatar of kitschy fashion to more provocative & dramatic version of high-street it girl.

Dolly Singh (DS): I was always interested in clothes and shoes as far as I can remember. When I first started reading blogs I came across the dearth of relatable bloggers, bloggers who not only talked about fashion but also my budget. I also wanted to talk about how you don’t really have to have a huge wardrobe, you CAN repeat clothes, just know how to do it right. This is why I started my own thing about 2 years back.

AB: Trend you hate the most?

DS: Hi-low hem dresses. Never wore them, never will.

AB: Recently Indian bloggers were featured on a reputed fashion publication’s magazine cover, your take on that?

DS: I loved it. The fact that the community is growing so strong and in some way the work done is being appreciated always counts. I do feel strongly, however, that we must stand our ground and talk about what the readers want, what we want, instead of what the big corporations are trying to make us do.

AB: Any dreams to be on a magazine cover someday? If yes which magazine?

DS: Well, who doesn’t right? Any magazine would do, as long as it’s the cover haha. If I had to choose, my favorites would be Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue.

AB: Favorite TV series?

DS: At the moment, I can’t wait for the second season of Stranger Things.

AB: Celebrity you would like to style someday?

DS: I would love to style Rihanna, not because she needs it but because it will be a dream come true.

AB: Who would you choose as ideal fashion week front row partner?

DS: That would be one of my favourite youtuber, Grace Helbig. She gives hilarious fashion reviews.

AB: Favorite Pop icon?

DS:Ed Sheeran, currently.

AB: Blogs you look upto?

DS:Man Repeller, of course!

AB: Things one should take care during Blog photoshoots?

DS: The makeup, it can make it or break it.

Komal Pandey

Komal Pandey is a fashion blogger at The College Couture. She is a popular face of Popxo youtube channel & has become a quintessential face of pretty much everything in everyday life of a young girl. Her personal style is quite visible on her blog & yes she wears it all in real life (on the streets ) too!

AB: -Story behind the name The College Couture?Komal Pandey (KP): My blog was the result of a really bad break up. Same old story, how you get out of a bad relationship and you wanna do something rebellious…. different? So that was it. I stared my blog The College Couture.

AB: Why “The College Couture” ?

KP: Because all of this happened in College. Sounds really random, but yeah.

AB: Blogs you look upto?

KP: I love a lot of blogs and follow them but I don’t look upto any. I look upto people on the streets and it’s the real fashion on real people that motivates me.

AB: What inspires you in terms of fashion & style?KP: Same answer, people on the streets.

AB: Kate Moss or Gigi Hadid?KP: Gigi Hadid.

AB: Worst fashion era ?KP: 2000’s.

AB: Favorite shopping destination in India?

KP:Sarojini, New Delhi

AB: Who would you choose as ideal fashion week front row partner?KP: My boyfriend. He is an Engineer. It would be nice to have someone from a different spectrum watch it with me. Fascinating, no?

AB: Favorite movie you love watching just for style & fashion?KP: All bollywood movies from the 90’s. Especially Karishma Kapoor‘s. I think she wore the dopest outfits in the 90’s!

AB: Favorite fashion week moment in India?KP: Obviously meeting you and seeing a new colourful outfit EVERYDAY. I am being VERY honest, right now.

Charuta Arvind Yadav

Charuta’s sartorial choices told girls it is okay to be whimsical, kooky & quirky about fashion. She also runs a DIY label known as Adagio . Her mother helps & supports her immensely to curate each of her creative looks.

CY (Charuta Yadav): I do not like mass produced fashion, I feel like it makes us all look like sheep, in my quest to wear something unique, something that has a sense of individuality to it I started doing DIYs which also led to my brand. Also I had seen my mom make clothes for me when I was a kid and those clothes were nothing like what other kids wore so that inspired me too.

AB: Favorite style inspirations?

CY:Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen.

AB: Heels or sneakers?

CY: Heels handsdown.

AB: According to you the best era in fashion?

CY: It has to be sixties and seventies. Sixties and seventies were a game changer for women’s fashion. Sixties gave birth to the iconic mini and seventies was all about being bold and powerful. Women started suiting up. Hippie fashion, punk, goth, tailored dressing, these two era’s gave birth to so many trends and I can’t possibly chose between the two. It was a time of beautiful transition.

AB: Favorite Bollywood movie who you enjoy watching for the sake of fashion & style?

CY: It has to be all of Sanjay Leela Bansali‘s movie.

AB: Fashion film you love watching?

CY : Cliche but Devil wears Prada, though I immensely enjoy watching biopics like Coco Chanel and House of Versace to know these designers started and eventually grew into fashion giants that they are today.